Yeah I lurked the other day (when I thought I had the key) for about 15 minutes, then I thought there MUST be something else in life to lurk for. Then I thought of something (which must remain a secret – don’t tell Chips)! Go back to lurking, y’all! I gotta go catch up, following a little siesta I just had. Still workin’ off the election night lack of sleep! 🙂

Does Santorum *ever* stop thinking about gay people and gay sex? Because as a gay man, most of the time I’m more focused on things like the engineering requirements document that’s due tomorrow, whether or not to bother making the bed, deciding how long I can play with my dog, getting my checkbook to balance, and how great it would be if my neighbor decided to clean up her yard. I think about the cereal I had for breakfast, the spices I put on the chicken I had for dinner, and whether or not to have a glass of wine tonight, or wait until tomorrow night. I think about getting the tires on my car rotated, getting that new 1T drive for my computer, and maybe watching a “Fringe” episode. What I do *not* spend a lot of time thinking about is “gay” people, or “straight” people, or…. you get the idea. Rick, buddy, you are just every so slightly OBSESSED. There are treatments for that. Look into it, please…..

I am not talking about him messing with her ….. it is her I worry about. No seriously, I love that she has the admiration and respect for him that she does. And she does have a partner. Plus, she just looks like a friendly person, a huggable one (don’t know if she is but she looks it). But she gazes at him very, very fondly. Of course, I would too if I ever get to meet him, that and bawl like a baby. And, you are right, I don’t think Michelle has anything to worry about!

Yes, we did! Looking forward to 2016 already. I don’t think the Rethugs are going to learn anything from their beatdown and will continue down the road of only focussing on White voters. Too bad for them. Too good for us.

“But for most of Tuesday night, there were not many reasons to cheer here in Boston. The news started out bad, with Barack Obama grabbing the key battleground states of New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and it got progressively worse as the path for Mitt Romney to reach 270 electoral votes got slimmer and slimmer, with Michigan falling, then Minnesota, then Wisconsin.

At an exclusive backstage room for some of the most generous donors to the Romney campaign, Paul Ryan arrived to thank them for pulling together the millions of dollars that fueled the campaign. But the appearance of the popular congressman did little to lift the mood.

“It’s grim. People are in a state of shock,” said one person who was in the room. “We will keep the House, but the Senate is a fucking disaster.”

Beyond measure. Let’s hope Koster adheres to the Rossi three-strikes rule and gives up trying to be anything but a local hack. I was so pleased by the margin by which Suzan DelBene won. Fantastic campaign from start to finish. Rejoice.

On Rachel Maddow last night it was perfectly obvious that Romney’s entire team thought that all the polls and surveys were truly biased and that they were going to win. It’s probably one reason they were able to suck so many people into that point of view – they believed it themselves. They just can’t comprehend the idea that they are not actual masters of the universe and that the lowly people (us) wouldn’t fall right into line with whatever they wanted. They also probably couldn’t believe that people could prefer a black-skinned guy now that he wasn’t a novelty. I had to laugh at the segment on FOX when Karl Rove was demanding they not call Ohio and they sent that woman down to talk to the numbers guys in the call room. They weren’t upset, they knew exactly what was going on and stood behind their call 100%. It looked like they were laughing inside.

Mitt and his advisers (Mormon pals from way back) live in a bubble. Mitt has always been treated like a prince. Everything was always right there. In his business and political career he’s been surrounded by yes-men and glad-handers whose main job it is to tell him how awesome he is. Of course he thought he was going to win! Everyone said he would and who better for the job??
Tuesday he had to dip his toe into hard reality and I’m sure he was crushed. Too bad.

this huffy link includes a clip of jon stewart—two names that are not popular here, i know. but…..such a great clip! and it speaks to your point perfectly, trump, and yours tien, and bob, and hope: the rethugs believed their own lies!

Not only that, they really believed the bullshit they heard on Fox. Of all the things I thought about Romney, I never believed that he really and truly buy the right wing media crap – but clearly he did. Amazing.

Really is Mitt shell shock, I can believe that. He and Ann act as if the WH belong to them. Remember in that interview when Diana Sawyer ask them if they could tell Obama something , what would it be? And they said “start packing”. I always thought that was mighty nasty of them. But that’s okay. They couldn’t help themselves.

Anniebella: That was the worst thing Romeny said in this whole campaign. I hated him for it. And i am not a hater usually. It was so ugly. He thought he was a winner over President Obama. Thank you America for proving Romney wrong and keeping Our Beloved President in the House where he belongs.

Chips, I didn’t get a chance to compliment you on your photography skills in last post. Very impressive! So many faves it’s hard to choose. The toilet displays were stunning! And in keeping with that theme, the scooper guys presented a visual treat. But are you sure that arrow was pointing at you? It didn’t look like you. But maybe it was the different hair style, I don’t know. I did love the rustic beauty in the photo of your new D.C. friend, Mr. Bushy Tail. He looks nicer than the one my Chgo daughter and fam found in their condo on a recent morning—- heard rustling noises in their living room while they were still in bed, son in law grabs a deadly weapon (my grandson’s play baseball bat) to investigate, screams swears as he discovers Mr. Chicago Bushy Tail on their kitchen counter next to their bowl of Halloween candy. The swears scared Bushy (not used to harsh language) and he leaped from the counter to the top of grandson’s painting easel and back out the hole in the screen he had chewed through to commit his crime. (breaking and entering) Only one fun size Butterfinger seemed to be missing. So only real loss was a screen badly in need of repair, but they’re suing to recover damages. 🙂

Today it finally hit me: Barack Obama IS president for the next four years. I don’t have to worry about Mitt Romney any more. I was out and about doing errands after teaching, and when I pulled up in front of the grocery store, this wonderful feeling of lightness and brightness came over me, the 50 pound burden I’d been carrying for four months lifted off, and I smiled inside and out, with the strong internal realization, Yes, we did it. Every donation I made over the past year was vindicated, and used to this good purpose. We can face the world with great confidence.
I loved the section of international newspapers….especially “planet relieved.” Traveling outside of the U.S. has been a much different and better experience these past four years than the previous eight. President Obama is respected all over the world. They truly couldn’t believe how we could be so stupid as we were in 2000 and especially in 2004. Now the world knows we are not stupid, neither are we filled with hatred and fear.
What a good day to be alive!!!

I feel the same way. I slept like a baby last night for the first time in months. My last thought before I fell asleep was about how safe I felt, now that president Obama is at the helm for another four years. That knawing anxiety is gone.

Boner just gave statement – no tax increases, ever- period!
Tea leaves- all bush techies will expire.
Debt belong needs to be raised in march, no leverage for the President.
Same as August 2011!
They don’t care!

All bluster, jovie. He’s already conceded ACA is the ‘law of the land.’ If continues obstructing the President he will suffer the consequences of the wrath of the 98%. He has no leverage, because even all those folk who voted against President Obama will not want their taxes raised and will demand the rich pay more. Tick, tock ….

You know TOD I had the distinct privilege of traveling on this road to victory with some real Obama Warriors on this site. I won’t call you by name because I don’t want to miss anyone but….

You collectively raised well over $90,000.00 dollars for the President’s re-election. The TOD Fundraisers ROCK!!

You volunteered endless amounts of hours to this campaign. Some became OFA Team Leaders, ran their own blogs that disseminated information or wrote enlightening articles that we could share with our friends and family. Others knocked on hundreds of doors or registered many new voters. Some made calls from home while others went outside of their comfort zone and visited their OFA office to phone bank or assisted with data entry as often as possible. I can’t say enough about those who offered their homes as staging areas to GOTV in those final days of the campaign. TOD/OFA Volunteers ROCK!!

What about our awesome Twitter Team that just pounded our message out and fought back every single day for this campaign. You were beyond anything that I could have ever imagined twitter could be. TOD Twitter Brigade ROCKED!!

The TOD Informers who brought us phenomenal links, videos and updates were incredible. It got to the point where you knew if you saw a certain name that this person was going to educate or motivate you about something that was going to be useful to the mission. TOD Informers ROCK!!

There was a group of supporters here that I dubbed the PBO Defenders. Nothing got past this group. 😉 When some lousy poll came out, they were here to rationalize why it was bogus. When some policy sent some out of the ledge, they were here to talk them down. When the pundits did their normal job of keeping folks on an emotional roller-coaster the defenders spelled out the lousy medias mission and put it all in context. PBO Defenders ROCK!!

Then there is the mastermind behind pulling this altogether so that we had a place to congregate and be motivated and educated and share our stories of volunteerism with each other. I BOW TO Ms. Chips.!!!! You Beyond ROCK!!!

That’s a spectacular tribute to everyone here Donna, you’re just lovely. Hey, YOU ROCK – you were an inspiration every step of the way, will appreciate you FOREVER for that. Thank you for everything Donna.

Dear donna, you have led by example and have contributed so much to the re-election of President Obama. Now you’ve penned an eloquent tribute to our dear Chips and the TOD community. Please know that YOU fulfilled many of the roles you describe and I am grateful for all you did.

Beautiful Donna. I echo your sentiment and rejoice in your eloquence. Special Thanks to the Magnificent Chips, our online community organiser. CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE. And, yes, we still have more work to be done, but we have a common purpose to keep moving Forward 🙂

Dear Donna, you were such an inspiration to me. As were so many people who volunteered to work for the campaign, registering people, phone banking and fundraising. I agree with you that all the tweeter warriors were marvelous! They caught back so hard against the right wingers, the fire baggers, and the unethical MSM. I join you in thanking Chipsticks and members of TOD for the sweet victory of re-electing our beloved President. For me, you were one of the people who stood up by providing leadership through your deeds.

Thank You for all your hard work and for never loosing faith in the President.

From my heart, thank you for your leadership in all things. You helped all of us fundraise to meet our goals and to get out there in our communities to pitch in where we could. We each know what kind of productive community and citizenship President Obama speaks of so eloquently because we formed it here.

Our love for this president is real and enduring and well earned. We’ve had the great good fortune of electing and re-electing President Obama through sheer effort and determination. We never ever gave up. And we will continue to help him in every way at every opportunity, every twist and turn, with great pride and with deep gratitude.

DD4O, you have been an inspiration to me! It was during your first major push at fundraising that I actually got in touch with my friend in Florida and asked her to donate (my Christmas present). I think that was the first time I felt a ‘really truly’ actual part of the campaign, and that was soooo important to me. Before that I felt mostly like I was nosing my way into things that I shouldn’t. I still occasionally felt a wee bit like that, but never to that exaggerated degree as at first. I swear I had this picture of you as a serious contemplative person (helped along by your avatar, and the words of wisdom you’d impart on your brief drop-in visits at BWD); somewhat like the picture I have of Chips with that smile and twinkle in her eyes. I’m going to be real disoriented when I meet you both at the inauguration and you are not serious and contemplative and Chips is not twinkly! 😉 As a citizen of the world, thanks for your role in making the world a more relaxed place.

The PRESIDENT of The United States of AMERICA BARACK OBAMA STILL STANDS TALL!… God’s grace and peace upon Him, is my prayer, and I pray that before the end of his term, The People’s hearts, minds, and eyes will open. There will never be another like him. May he lead and be guided in the way God would want him to lead and guide. He is not perfect and has never claimed to be. He and this USA is in need of our prayers. It only takes a spark.

NO President has ever worked this hard for our Country. Many wonder, does he ever sleep? Only God can sustain such energy, knowledge, in a person. Please let us form a powerful prayer chain around our President and his family and ask God to secure it with love, protection, mercy and grace. Amen. I Pray you all will please join in this prayer!

Lord,
We pray for optimum health, mental clarity and political prosperity for President Barack Obama. We pray for Him supernatural wisdom and power.
We also pray that when his enemies come upon him they will stumble and fall; that God’s love will fill his heart to the end and that ‘Lord Your Will’ be done through him.
—
———————————————-
Founder & CEO, “got God?”®
** deleted **
{Wear Your Faith!}

I thought I saw a like to President Obama’s acceptance speech on one of the threads, but now I can’t find it. Was I dreaming, or does anyone have a link. Might have been dreaming because the heat is out inmy house and I’m not sleeping too well!

I’ve been seeing these stories and am just shocked about the delusion. Didn’t they see that POTUS and Biden had more than twice as many in rallies and of course LEADING EVERY POLL. I guess they thought $$$$ and bullshit lies could buy this election just as it had for Romney in the primaries.

But, but…..the media was telling them differently. The question becomes what were they spending their money on with regards to their Pollsters? They had internal polls. Yes the media refused to report pres Obama’s rally numbers…..but the numbers were not had to find. Besides……Romney Camp were always copying and BRACKETING the president and his surrogates. They were following the president around…..yet living in their right wing echo chamber can be delusional and I guess, intoxicating?

I think they paid no attention to Obama’s rallies, etc. It’s part of the total contempt they showed for every minority. They didn’t respect him as an opponent and probably truly believed he was an Affirmative Action student (not that there’ anything wrong with that). Although their voter suppression stuff wasn’t enough to turn the election, they probably thought it was so close that they votes they could steal would just be extra insurance. I believe I also read that in ’08 the Republican internal polls were crap and the Democrat internals were very accurate. Well, they laugh at science and math, they jeered at Nate Silver. It’s a natural outcome.

yes, isn’t that interesting? voter suppression is why they thought they had it in the bag! voter suppression, bombing swing states with ads full of lies, and on and on–they felt they’d covered all the bases. they bought it.

they were like guys who sent out for pizza, but the exterminator showed up instead. ‘but i ordered pizza!’

Reporters said all attendees at his “victory party” election night were all in shock also. All were convinced it was going to be a Big Willard Win. I believe it was TOO MUCH FOXNEWS, a sole reliance on that Fake News station——–lying to them, misleading them, deceiving them, never reporting anything resembling the truth, or, you know, facts.

That is a wonderful thing – that the poison FOX news spread throughout our political process ended up poisoning the Republicans the most. It’s probably why they were so careless and didn’t bother to plan and organize.

This was so great; both horrible proposed amendments went down; I am so proud of my fellow Minnesotans for cutting through all of the lies, fear aand rhetoric to understand what was being proposed. The proponents did their best to mask the intention and to confuse people — the polls looked horrible just 4 weeks ago. I am SO HAPPY!

awe that was GREAT! I love it how the lady comes out at 3 minute mark and says the AP called it and pandemonium ensues – everyone is so happy!!! They really worked their butts off. Hats off to those guys!

That’s awesome!!! So happy with the results in Minnesota! Yesterday was like a fog but today I felt like the fog has cleared and it is a truly beautiful day. MN DFL has the House the Senate and the Governor. No voter ID law and no ban on gay marriage. Ain’t no stopping us now! 🙂

No. No. I’m not laughing, CC. 😛 😛 The fact you missed it means I’m not too late to this part of the celebration. Plus it’s almost seeming to be the ‘norm’ for you to be a step or two behind. Why change TOD tradition at this point? /God, I wish I had access to those turtle pictures and could post them on the blog at perfect moments like this one. Such a pity, I can’t. Sigh. /

Well, love, this is an observation, not a complaint. If an active, productive mayoress like you can be behind at SPECIAL MOMENTS, then it’s not so bad that I’m often bringing up the rear. (Matters not to me mentally that *I* am not doing anything productive, or that my rationale that gives me an out is not logical. Like the GOP I feel good about myself just by comparing myself to the best. }

Having your blog hit 15 million is AWESOME and I CONGRATULATE YOU! OOOXXXOOO

Chips Chica is unstoppable, ain’t she? I’m very proud of her. Even though their accomplishments are different, I’m as proud of CC as I am of the Obamas, whom I also haven’t met. Kind of weird, LunarS, but they ‘both’ feel like they belong to me. 😆 😆

This is why I can’t stand listening to them. They are too wrapped up in their own egos.
But it WAS delicious to see the other day on DK a diary from Cenk was given downratings. Guess some finally figured out he is more interested in promoting himself than anything.

Good evening peeps! Finally had to take a day and get some things but I sure feel great. Really hit me this morning (after some real sleep) that in addition to seeing PBO elected there were some incredible gains in this election. I am beyond thrilled at the Senate results.

And yes, it is incredibly scary to think just how close Mittens came to the WH. In addition to believing his own BS he confirms the view of him that he totally out of touch (and unaware) of anything going on around him. Read somewhere yesterday that on Tuesday after his last campaign stop he went to the back of the plane to thank the press and noticed FOR THE FIRST TIME that they had coach seats rather than first class. He has been on this plane for how many months now? And he was shocked. Just utterly oblivious to anything that does not immediately affect him.

When catching up on the threads today, I noticed the tweet regarding Texas and prospects for turning it blue. I am in Tarrant County, one of the 5 largest counties and the only one that has not gone blue. I was the volunteer coordinator here for OFA in 2008 and despite incredible work for months, we were only able to shave 2 points off the usual 25 point loss for the Dems. It was incredibly disappointing. This time, I decided not to work the ground game for other Dems here because it was more important to me to see PBO win this thing so spent the time phonebanking. I was shocked when the numbers came in. PBO only lost Tarrant County this time by 16.7 points which puts us in line with the state overall. That was an amazing change from 2008 in just four years. I attribute it to two factors. One is that PBO is not so much the scary black man anymore, people know him and are not as susceptible to the hype. Second, I’ve posted previously that I just didn’t see signs of any enthusiasm for Romney here. He just was not appealing to what I know of Texans (I am a transplanted Minnesotan). Even given those things, I don’t see TX turning in one more cycle. But I believe if Castro rises in state politics here he will be the one to eventually bring out the Latino vote so perhaps by 2020. In any event it sure was nice to see some signs of progress in this county.

Still floating and suspect I will be through the Inauguration even though I have no plans to attend. I am incredibly excited about this second term and am looking forward to the path PBO takes when he no longer has to worry about another election.

Firefox – me too! I’m so happy that MN did the right thing! There were tons of people here all for these different things (re-electing the Pres, working on both “Vote No” campaigns). Just so happy. And Bachman? She won, but not by a lot.

Yup, Bachmann was the one disappointment. I gave money to her challenger and really hoped to see her go. I’ve been out of state since 1999 and have been very surprised to see her rise there. Not the state I thought I knew although she did find the ultra conservative pocket. For a little history, MN was the first state in the country going back many many years where the state anti-discrimination law included prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation. So I was shocked to hear about this fight in MN but know Bachmann played a big role. I now wonder with the swing toward the right in the state legislature if the state law has changed. I suspect not or this fight for the anti-gay marriage amendment wouldn’t have taken place.

Because I want a president who is pledged to securing equal rights for gays, including the right to marry whomever one loves.

Because I want a president who believes the fight for equal rights for African Americans is not yet finished and who believes in enforcing and guaranteeing the right to vote for every American.

Because I want a president who belongs to a political party that wants to guarantee the right of every American to vote and not suppress the rights of any Americans.

Because I want a president who believes in the Dream Act, who believes we are society that does not punish children for the acts of their parents.

Because I want a president who will fight for immigration reform, who believes in securing our borders but who also believes that justice must prevail for the millions of undocumented workers who live peacefully among us.

Because I want a president who will appoint progressive and forward-looking justices to the Supreme Court, justices who will protect equal rights, Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, and voting rights.

And most importantly, because it’s the best thing I can do for my precious daughter.

* Remember all that chatter about how John Boehner supposedly made a concession on high end taxes the other day? Well, it turns out that was utter nonsense:

“Raising taxes on small businesses will kill jobs in America. It is as simple as that,” Boehner said today in a wide-ranging interview with USA TODAY in which he repeatedly spoke of finding “common ground” with Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

By “small businesses,” Boehner really means, “those with incomes over $250,000.” Elsewhere in the interview, Boehner signals support for raising revenues by closing loopholes, but he already agreed to that during the 2011 debt ceiling talks — it’s basically the Mitt Romney position. The question is whether Republicans will agree to an increase in high end tax rates. Remember: Dems are the ones who hold the leverage here.

They’re bluffing. They know PBO is holding four aces and a king. The Bush tax cuts, the automatic defense cuts, the coming fight on the tax code. Across the board This President has the leverage and if they think he’s not going to use it they are as delusional as Romney. Let them make the noise. Eventually Boehner and McConnell are going to have to come to the negotiating table and that inevitability scares the daylights out of them.

Thanks meta. Boehner probably knew this which is why he decided to give a presser tomorrow -not the other way around as Mark Knoller is trying to imply. It’s all this false reporting from the likes of Knoller and others in the MSM that created this delusional thinking on the part of Romney and his surrogates/supporters.

What dudes like McConnell, Boehner etc know is that President Obama is now the most daunting opponent they could ever imagine. He is no longer encumbered by running for office, ever. He has an enormous network of activists – US – and he knows he can bypass the MSN and work directly with us and the People to force the GOP to serve the interests of the majority of Americans.

The next four years are going to be intense and if folk think they’ve seen ‘Fired Up’ in our President – oh my, just remember he’s a ‘fourth quarter’ winner and we are just finishing the ‘second quarter,’ dear friends.

Posted: Nov 08, 2012 05:38 PM
Pinellas County commissioner says he heard voters, will vote to add fluoride to water
By Anna M. Phillips, Times Staff Writer
Text Size
One year after voting to stop adding fluoride to Pinellas County’s drinking water, Commissioner Norm Roche has had a change of heart.

On Thursday, two days after voters unseated two Republican incumbents who had joined Roche in voting against fluoridation, the commissioner said he would support a proposal to add it back into the water.

“Voters have certainly been heard at some level here,” he said. “Our job is to listen to what the majority of the voters want. That is the core of a representative government.”

In October 2011, Roche led a discussion about fluoride in a workshop that ended abruptly with four commissioners — Roche, John Morroni, Nancy Bostock and Neil Brickfield — voting to end the practice. Dentists protested the vote and by the spring of this year, the two Democrats challenging Bostock and Brickfield had made fluoride their central campaign issue. Whether Morroni will join Roche in changing his vote is unclear — the chairman could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Roche said he found the issue’s prominence in the campaigns disturbing. In an email he sent to colleagues a day before the election, he called the controversy over fluoride “an editorially-manufactured public hysteria.”

In that same email, he proposed adding language to the county’s charter that would establish a policy on whether to use the public drinking water “as a means by which to impact and improve the general public health of our county’s residents.”

“I have no doubt that as of November 20th that fluoride will be introduced back into our drinking water,” he said. “But my hope is we won’t allow this to become a political football again.”

Though Roche is only two years into his term, several people are already considering running against him, citing his fluoride vote as an example of his political vulnerability.

Damn, this mofo really thought he had it in the bag. They really DIDN’T write a concession speech. The whole group really bought into the hype. Here’s the thing. The Romney camp and the whole of the GOP, underestimated the Obama camp ground game. The thought they could do the same demonizing of social groups as they did in 2000 & 2004 (all those gay marriage amendments, Karl Rove convinced so many state legislatures to put on the ballot). They underestimated the black, brown, young, and women voters who were damn well pissed that the GOP was trying to take their votes away, trying to get them to “self-deport” or tried to take away a woman’s right to choice whether or not she wants to carry her rapist/molester/deadbeat/whatever’s baby. They forgot the number one rule when it comes to poking a lion: AT SOME POINT, THE LION WILL STRIKE BACK. In the case of this election, the LIONS savaged the shit out of Romney!!!

Sheer incompetence. You have to be pretty freakin’ stupid not to know that we were pushing forward at great speed into every nook and cranny in the country with deep individual connections on the ground. The strategy was a study in effectiveness in the detail of human factors. You have to be completely dimwitted not to understand how fiercely committed PBO voters are, especially in this context of highly charged racism and sexism. Absolutely insulated not to consider that you might lose given the trajectory of the whole race and the polling over the last week. They are the worst team of idiots imaginable.

Chips, I know you , being the extremely modest person you are, have difficulty accepting compliments. But I want to add to what Donna mentioned upstairs. She gave a listing of all the achievements, either through donations or work hours, whatever, that have been made by people from TODville. And she was right.

The one thing we will never know is how much of that would have happened without your creating and maintiaining this site. Yes, a lot of people would still have donated money and a lot would still have volunteered hours. Personally, I don’t think the totals would have been the same without the encouragement, cajoling, calming down that people here provided for each other.

And just as important, as Donna mentioned, was that this became the go to place for correct information. I have no doubt that many potential Romney voters or non-voters were convinced to vote for PBO by members of TODville specifically because of information they found here that they would not have found elsewhere.

And additionally TOD became a sort of gateway drug. It was through here that many of usd other blogs we had no knowledge of before and where we went on a daily basis (after coming here first,of course).

Most importantly, we all knew, that no matter what our own individual circumstances were, no matter how much we were barraged from the utside, we could come here and find a home. And it wasn’t just that you provided a welcome (except for the underbelly of society) but that you did so so easily and with a sense of humor. When things got to you, and they did, you were wise enough to take a break and trusted us not to totally trash the place (although AMK and VC always tried).

And finally, you provided a forum for us not only in the comments, but allowed us to send you our own writings, inadequate as many of those might have been, and posted them.

We owe you a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. For what it is worth, I am going to be writing both to the campaign and the President to extol what you have done here. Who knows, maybe you will get a special invitation to be in a better place for the inauguration this time around.

Chips, as far as I am concerned, you are as much a hero of this reelection effort as Jim Messina, Plouffe and Axe. You have inspired, motivated, organized at a special level. I think I speak for everybody here when I say we love you and what you have done.

And we will still be with you for the next four years if you will have us.